


psyche

by xDruid



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:20:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23756776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xDruid/pseuds/xDruid
Summary: delving deeper into genji's psyche throughout the years.
Kudos: 3





	psyche

**Before The Incident:**  
In his youth Genji cared little for his family’s dark empire  
\--an empire built upon blood, drugs, and weaponry deals--  
and instead opted to live his life extravagantly and ludicrously  
against the wishes of The Clan’s Elders.  
While his father was still alive, he managed to, mostly, get away  
with whatever he pleased-- he was the second son, after all--  
for the better part of his life. He did still attend his training,  
however, and excelled in the art of using his shuriken and of his blade--  
Ryū ichimonji.  
竜一文字

After the death of Sojiro, life became… Strenuous.

Most nights Genji could be found in the clubs that called Hanamura home,  
much to the dismay and aggravation of his brother-- neglecting his duties  
to the Clan and further spurring a wedge between him and Hanzo.  
He spent his time drinking the night away, sleeping with strangers,  
and avoiding the Shimada Castle for as long as he could--  
Only to be, forcibly, returned by dawn.

 **Blackwatch:**  
Syringes.  
He remembers the first one that went beneath his skin, with  
almost perfect clarity he recalls the fire that it spread through his veins--  
what veins that he still had, in any case-- and how angry it made him.  
“We can save you, Genji..”  
Through blurred, spotted, vision he remembers the tuft of blonde hair,  
the shining blue uniform with the multicolored truncated ribbons,  
“We can use you on our side--”  
They wanted a weapon.  
…  
Once he was able to stand on his own he was allowed  
to leave the Intensive Care Unit, although from one gilded cage  
to another he didn’t truly see it as any different than the last.  
His training followed suit not long after, he had to reteach himself  
the skills that he had already once known--  
skills this cybernetic body enhanced with a lethality that was too easy to achieve.

…

Through the years, things became… Better.

Genji had successfully dismantled his family’s empire, with the help of his augmentations they had no chance to stand against him, and he had even managed, with a great degree of his own volition, to make things bearable within Blackwatch.  
He had managed to make friends, to learn how to become a new  
version of his prior self  
\--snarkier, perhaps more sarcastic, but ultimately better--  
and he could feel a small change within himself.  
…  
He was not just a weapon.

**Overwatch Strike Team:**  
He was transferred to the Strike Team once the news  
about Blackwatch's existence was revealed to the public.  
The Rialto Incident left many questioning Reyes, but Genji believed  
that it was better Antonio Bartalotti had died.  
Dead is dead--  
He felt no sympathy for Talon.  
…  
He hadn’t kept contact with his old teammates since  
joining the Strike Team-- not that he figured it would be allowed  
considering all that had happened-- but he did often find himself  
thinking of them fondly.  
…  
At least Lena was funny.  
Sometimes.  
…  
As the years passed there was a growing, silent, turmoil haunting Genji.  
He did not need to eat, nor sleep in a way that mattered.  
Every night he sat in the darkness, the illuminating  
glow of his circuitry the only thing on his mind.  
He hadn’t removed his mask publicly since living in Blackwatchs’ Headquarters.  
Each time he passed the mirror in his bathroom he could only see a machine.  
There was more steel in his body then flesh,  
more circuitry than there were veins.  
…  
Was he even a human anymore?

**Shambali Monastery:**  
He had abandoned Overwatch.  
…  
The inner turmoil he was facing proved to be too much--  
along with the infighting between agents and their illustrious leaders--  
for him to bear any longer.  
He left in the middle of the night.  
…  
Genji was sitting outside a café in Thailand when the news  
of the Switzerland Explosion came about.  
...  
He mourned for his friends.  
…  
A few years had passed since the accident and Genji had taken to drifting,  
never staying in one place for too long.  
The turmoil within his mind had not ceased for a single day,  
with every night he was left pondering the same question--  
Was he even human, anymore?

His travels eventually led him to a small Nepali village in the mountains,  
and it was there that he decided to stay.  
At least, for a little while.  
…  
From an omnic monk Genji learned of the Shambali Monastery further up the mountains,  
and he couldn’t help but think it was a little ironic that, of course, there would be.  
“There is disquiet in your soul--,”  
Tekhartha Zenyatta, that is the name he had given when asked.  
“We could help you.”  
…  
That was the first time Genji had rejected Zenyatta’s help,  
and it would not be the last.  
…  
Zenyatta was, if nothing else, persistent in his noble effort of offering help,  
and Genji had found himself speaking with the Shambali monk  
more often than he was turning him away.  
Even rebuffed he remained kind and courteous,  
never pressing the issue revolving Genji too harshly.

He began to feel at peace around the monk,  
something he had not felt in many years.  
...

He shared with Zenyatta his turmoil, his fears, his past--  
Everything that he could think of, laid bare until there was nothing left--  
tears streaming down his cheeks.

Zenyatta walked with him to the Monastery and for the first time in his life…  
Genji felt alive.  
…  
He spent three years at the Shambali Monastery,  
learning under the guidance of Tekhartha Zenyatta  
and in time he began to truly believe in the teachings offered to him.

He learned to accept that although he had a cybernetic body, his human soul was intact, and he came to see his new form as a gift and a unique strength.


End file.
